SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash — As Spokane County approaches the one-week mark for Phase 2 of reopening, 23 new coronavirus cases were reported on Wednesday. That’s the first number over 20 since April 2.
Right now Spokane County has 526 cases, 83 total hospitalizations, 31 deaths, and 13,868 positive tests.
The new guidelines for reopening state that Spokane can’t have more than 10 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 people over a two-week period. For Spokane County, that means the county could move back to Phase 1 if there are more than 50 new COVID-19 cases within a span of two weeks.
But health officials have told KREM that the new cases won’t impact Spokane’s ability to reopen businesses in Phase 2, or prolong the time between Phase 2 and Phase 3 reopening.
RELATED: Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward talks about how Spokane’s first weekend in Phase 2 went
The Washington Department of Health website indicates that Spokane County is one of five counties in the state with 391 to 780 coronavirus cases. Clark County is the closest in population size with Spokane and it has 421 confirmed cases.
Washington Dept. of Health
The 14-day projection graph below shows what the numbers will look like on average every two weeks.
In the past two weeks, there have been 140 new coronavirus cases in Spokane County. There have been 101 cases in the last week alone.
KREM
Spokane County Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz said the majority of the spike in cases is due to a “cluster outbreak” from the Philadelphia Macaroni Company in Spokane. Thirty-five employees at the pasta plant have tested positive for coronavirus.
RELATED: 35 workers at Spokane pasta plant test positive for coronavirus
Although there have been a substantial increase in cases, the Spokane Regional Health District doesn’t believe the increase is due to community spread.
